National Football League

Bills LB Tremaine Edmunds aspires to surpass greats Ray Lewis, Luke Kuechly

Updated Feb. 22, 2023 5:12 p.m. ET

Tremaine Edmunds is ready to take the next step. The Buffalo Bills linebacker isn't just looking at an expiring contract, with the chance to negotiate an extension or enter free agency. He's also looking to elevate his game to another level.

Even after a season in which he had 102 tackles, one sack, one interception and one of the highest coverage grades among inside linebackers (per PFF), Edmunds wants to do more for his defense. He wants to be the No. 1 communicator; he wants to get his defense lined up before the snap; and he wants to get his defense in a position where it's one step ahead of the offense. These qualities make for the best inside linebackers in the NFL.

"I think as far as taking that next step, it's understanding little stuff," Edmunds told FOX Sports earlier this month. "That's gonna make me be able to do [things like] call out stuff to let this person know. We're all playing as one out there. I've been able to be a part of good defenses, and that's what it started with. I think the next step is just learning those types of things."

When the Bills drafted Edmunds in the first round in 2018, he was pegged as the next Luke Kuechly. The logic went that Bills GM Brandon Beane selected Edmunds to be the centerpiece of coach Sean McDermott's defense, which operated with the same scheme that the Carolina Panthers used with Kuechly during the previous decade.

Edmunds has grown into that comparison, maybe not racking up the same number of tackles as Kuechly but certainly taking a crucial and prolific role at the center of the Bills defense.

"You'd look at guys like Ray Lewis, guys like Luke Kuechly that did it at a high level," Edmunds said. "We play that position to strive to be like these guys, if not better than these guys. That's just a true competitor's mindset."

Better than Lewis and Kuechly?

If he can pull that off, it would make Edmunds a future Hall of Famer.

"I'm a student of the game. I love the game so much. [There] are definitely tips that you can take from the type of leader Lewis was [and] the type of player Luke Kuechly was as far as like calling," Edmunds said.

Because McDermott knows Kuechly, the coach arranged a meetup between the seven-time Pro Bowler and Edmunds. That gave Edmunds an opportunity to learn from one of the greats he hopes to someday surpass.

"I've had the pleasure of talking with [Kuechly] and just sitting down and talking ball," Edmunds said. "And some of those things, man, you just can't — like it's just rare respect. Just getting game from him, that's something that money can't pay for."

Edmunds wouldn't say the meeting radically changed his career. He wouldn't even say he modeled his game after Kuechly's, but the former Panther is one of many linebackers whom Edmunds has admired and studied.

That hard work led to Edmunds having one of the best seasons of his five-year career in 2022. McDermott, in fact, said it was Edmunds' best year.

"You saw him grow from a leadership standpoint. You saw him grow from a performance standpoint," McDermott said in an end-of-season press conference in January. "And I know he's just got that attitude that he wants to continue to improve."

Edmunds has recorded 100 or more tackles in all five of his NFL seasons. He’s just 24 years old. He ranks in the top 50 pending free agents in just about every list you’ll see — often landing in the top 20. It’s easy to imagine Edmunds making around $15 million per year on his next contract, whether he sticks with the Bills or lands with another team.

In our conversation, he repeatedly downplayed his role in the free-agency process. He said he will "let the process take shape." And in the meantime, he'll spend the offseason with his family while mixing his time between the film room and the gym.

"I look at that stuff and try to add little pebbles on my way. It's like a treasure hunt," Edmunds said. "You just add the little things from everybody and put it into your basket to ultimately come out as a whole."

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @McKennAnalysis.

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